Nuestras Historias (Issue 1, Vol 1)

was the most known activist for birth control,
opened the first clinic that would later become
Planned Parenthood and worked alongside
Pincus and Rock, advocating for eugenics as
well. “Sanger argued that birth control could
help wipe out ‘the greatest present menace to
civilization’—people living in extreme poverty
and those with mental illnesses and physical
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disabilities.” Puerto Rico was seen as being
overpopulated by people living in poverty and
many believed that an effective solution would
be to target the reproductive rights of women
who couldn’t have known any better.
While the pill plays a very important role
in many women’s daily routine and their form of
birth control, learning the history of simple
inventions like this highlights the
institutionalized racism that is still very
prevalent today. It also exhibits parts of history
that are never talked about but are key to
explaining current policies and methods in the
medical and political fields. ◻
36 Blakemore, Erin. “The First Birth Control Pill Used Puerto Rican Women
as Guinea Pigs.” ​History.com​, A&E Television Networks, 9 May 2018,
https://www.history.com/news/birth-control pill-history-puerto-rico-enovid.
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